July 11, 2017

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HTC’s Vive Prime Day deal makes the Oculus Rift even better value

by John_A

As tech brands go to war on Amazon Prime Day, Oculus has emerged triumphant over HTC in terms of value. The Vive, usually on sale for $800 has been reduced by a meager $100 to $700. Meanwhile, the Rift and Touch bundle — already on a limited-time offer for $400/£400 — now comes with a Prime Day perk of a $100 Amazon gift card (which makes it such a good deal it’s currently out of stock). If you regularly drop a lot of dollar at Amazon, this essentially brings the price of the bundle down to $300, which is more than half the price of HTC’s offering.

HTC’s Prime Day deal (which appears to be US-only) isn’t nearly as good as Oculus’ — likely because it doesn’t have the bank of Facebook behind it to absorb losses. This will certainly make choosing easier for consumers entering the VR field for the first time. But for those who have already bought into HTC, and against a backdrop of poor customer service from Vive, this deal may have them regretting their choice.